copy/paste failure from host to guest with VirtualBox 6.1.16

[abcdefgh]

I'm pretty sure that this problem's participants are Windows startup, Windows Task Scheduler, and VBox, not the VM.

1, I made two clipboard reports (via FreeClipViewer):
a) made by TextPad, and
b) made by Notepad.
A binary compare shows they are identical. The current problem is not a problem with TextPad. I'm pretty sure it's occuring because both TextPad and the VM are launched by Windows Task Scheduler.

2, Regardless whether Windows Task Scheduler launches the VM via

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C:\VMs\Mint18\Mint18.vbox

or via

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"c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage" startvm Mint18 -E VBOX_RELEASE_LOG_FLAGS="time timeprog"

the result is the same: Though the Mint18 VM is running,
a) Windows Task Scheduler shows the VM as NOT RUNNING, and
b) The "Mint18 - File Manager" dialog reports No Guest Session found!

Of course, I don't know what's wrong, but something is wrong.

[fth0]

Did you check the user account under which VirtualBox and the VM are running?

[abcdefgh]

Howdy,

Did you check the user account under which VirtualBox and the VM are running?

I'm not sure what you mean. The computer has only one user, me. I have admin privilege. Windows cannot connect to the Internet, hence the VM (via bridge).

Is there something I should specifically check?

By the way, I have an update.

1, I'm no longer launching the Guest via Windows Task Scheduler. I discovered quite by accident that Microsoft has moved the Startup from here:
c:\Users\Mark\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Startup\
(which no longer works), to here:
c:\Users\Mark\Favorites\Links\Programs\Startup\

2, I regressed Guest Additions from 6.1.22 to 6.1.16.

Neither fixed the problem. I'm giving up. I suppose this initial paste failure issue is something only HaroldFinch and me have noticed. I suspect the Guest Additions but I know of no way to investigate/debug it, and I'd never have a way to fix it.

Thanks for your help and concern. Be happy.

[fth0]

Thanks for reporting back. I didn't find the time yet for some own experimentation. I will update this thread when I discover anything.

Regarding user accounts, Windows internally uses several of them, usually not belonging to any natural person (e.g. System). You can use your favorite task manager to see for each process which user executed it, and in the Windows Task Scheduler, you choose under which user account a process is executed. This could have an influence on what a running process is allowed to access.

[HaroldFinch]

If you're interested in investigating further, you can create a special log file by executing the following commands in the Linux guest:

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# Clipboard logging (X11 guest)
sudo pkill -fx "/usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard"
VBOX_RELEASE_LOG_DEST=file=/tmp/clipboard.log VBOX_RELEASE_LOG=+all.e.l.f VBoxClient -d --clipboard

Then post the VBox.log file and the /tmp/clipboard.log file, together with a description of your clipboard actions.

fth0: I am following up on your last post.

I captured the log files your requested, and thoroughly document all the steps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Configuration:

1) VirtualBox: today I uninstalled my previous version and installed the latest 6.1.32 version:
--VirtualBox-6.1.32-149290-Win.exe
--Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.32.vbox-extpack

2) virtual machine:

outline of configuration done on a virgin one also created today:
	--installed the latest Xubuntu from its ISO xubuntu-21.10-desktop-amd64.iso
	--ran its Software Updater to install the latest Xubuntu code for 21.10
	--to prepare for installing VirtualBox Guest Additions, first ran
		sudo apt update
		sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)
	--installed the VirtualBox Guest Additions by executing
		sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
	--with the virtual machine shut down, changed its Settings from Shared Clipboard: Disabled to Shared Clipboard: Bidirectional
	--also enabled a shared folder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steps:

a) booted the Xubuntu virtual machine

b) in the 1st Terminal, started the clipboard logging commands that you requested.
--see the attached screenshot file 1_log commands_executed.png

c) in the 2nd Terminal, I tried to paste in these 2 commands after copying each one from TextPad running in my Windows 10 host OS:

lsmod | grep -i vbox
modinfo vboxguest

As I have detailed in this thread already, the first command successfully pastes from TextPad, but the second command, when I try to paste it into this second Xubuntu Terminal, is incorrect: what gets pasted is the first not the second command. It is as if the clipboard did not get updated somehow.

--see the attached screenshot file 2_two_pastes_from_TextPad.png which shows this

d) in the 3rd Terminal, I tried to paste in these 2 commands after copying each one from Notepad++ running in my Windows 10 host OS:

lsmod | grep -i vbox
modinfo vboxguest

As I have detailed in this thread already, both commands successfully paste from Notepad++.

--see the attached screenshot file 3_two_pastes_from_NotePad++.png which shows this

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also attached are the clipboard.log and VBox.log files that you requested.

I so hope that you can spot the issue...

This bug never used to happen in VirtualBox.

UPDATE: nuts, this forum software is not letting me attach those 2 log files? Is there a limit of 3 attachments max per post? I will submit this post and try to attach the logs in a subsequent one...

[HaroldFinch]

Also attached is the clipboard.log file that you requested.

I tried to attach the VBox.log file several times, but this forum software keeps silently failing to do so...so annoying...

[HaroldFinch]

I was finally able to attach my VBox.log file after putting it into a .zip archive, see the attached file in this post

[fth0]

Thanks for the log files. It was worth a try, but it didn't indicate the problem to me. If you like, you can create a ticket on the Bugtracker.

There is a slight chance for the following: The VirtualBox hardening code complained about three files on your Windows host. For a test, you could uninstall OneDrive and ScanSnap, reboot the host, and see if your copy&paste problem persists. The files are:

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'C:\Users\brilly\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe'
'C:\Users\brilly\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\22.002.0103.0004\FileSyncShell64.dll'
'C:\Program Files (x86)\PFU\ScanSnap\SSFolder\x64\SSFolder.DLL'

[HaroldFinch]

fth0: I created this ticket on Bugtracker.